


Young adventures of Jen and Judy

by chlolou1208



Category: Dead to Me, jen and judy - Fandom
Genre: Best Friends, Cuties, Young Judy, shy Judy, soft, young Jen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:40:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25319944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chlolou1208/pseuds/chlolou1208
Summary: A short, three chapter AU following how a young and shy Judy Hale becomes friends with a confident yet misunderstood Jen Harding. The two grow up together and help eachother through hardships and challenges as well as enjoying the fun times. Will they remain best friends as feelings towards each other grow stronger in the teenage years, or become something more by adulthood?
Relationships: Jennifer Harding and Judy Hale
Comments: 14
Kudos: 29





	1. Young wild free

**Author's Note:**

> Comments appreciated. Also prompt ideas ??
> 
> I’m sooo bad at writing smut or anything like that Which is why I stay away from it, so if anyone wants to collaborate on something together then message me! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy this anyway.
> 
> Twitter- @chlo_barnes12xx

Blonde pig tails swished in the wind as a 10 year old Jennifer Harding, _Jen she preferred,_ strolled through the roughly painted black school gates, past a few other groups of students gathered together in groups. ‘The footballers’, Jen referred to them as, starred her up and down as she passed briskly, she _hated_ ‘the footballer kids’, she’d stormed home and complained to her mom a billion times about how they smell after lunch time, and how they talk loudly over everyone in the class. Then there were the ‘snail snobs’, again another nickname Jen had used to refer to her classmates, they looked her up and down, judging every outfit she wore and backpack she carried. She was sometimes jealous of their pristine jackets and expensive shoes, but then she remembered their awful personality and counted herself lucky that she wasn’t spoiled.

Walking to her locker she sighed as she approached the end of the corridor, a few of the cheerleading squad were grouped together in front of her locker. The footballers and posh kids were bad, but the cheerleaders were a whole lot worse. They’d stand in front of her locker _every single day_ and then put up a fight when Jen asked them to politely _move._ The politeness faded after the first few times of asking though.

She approached her locker, her arms crossing tighter over the folder she had in her hand. She saw the girls look at her, then go back to their conversation. She could just about fit her backpack and folder inside her locker without asking the girls to move, as if they would anyway, the cold metal pressed against the tall black haired girl named ‘Rebecca’ and she didn’t budge an inch. Jen rolled her eyes and walked away.

She had math first, she’d been moved into a new class since her old teacher had left and their class had to be split up. When she approached the class room, a few people were already inside talking in their friend groups. It wasn’t as if she had ‘friends’ in the other class, or any class, everyone thought she was cold and stubborn, she was never invited into a friend group so she never really knew how to be one of those fun, outgoing kids. Walking into the classroom though, she’d never felt more alone as a dozen pairs of eyes set on her, starring her down as she walked up to ask the teacher where she would sit.

“Right here Jennifer,” ( _Jen, she cringed internally)_

She made her way over to the seat at the far right of the class, second from the back row.

“Judy will be sitting next to you so-ah, speaking of…”

A small brunette with bangs, a huge backpack and a long flowery dress appeared behind the teacher, a small smile on her face.

“Judy, this is Jennifer, your new seat partner”

Her smile stretched, and a shy wave came next, “hi, I’m Judy Ann Hale”

Jen couldn’t help but smile, her cheeks almost hurt at the sensation, it’s not as if she’s familiar with this whole, ‘smiling’ thing.

“Yeah I know, I’m Jen”, the ‘Jen’ was stressed for her teacher to here as well as Judy.

He left them to settle, Mr Davidson he was called, and Judy tugged out the chair next to Jen and sat herself down.

Judy and Jen were the complete opposites, Judy sat there with a bright flowery dress, a homemade daisy chain bracelet and an eager posture. Jen wore a grey t shirt with a flannel top tied round her waist, and she slumped back in her chair. There were still a few minutes before the lesson officially started so Judy turned to Jen, “would you like one?” her voice was sweet and her hand was stretched out towards Jen. She held a purple starburst sweet in her hand.

Jen nodded, “thanks” she smiled genuinely.

While she was unwrapping the sweet she noticed Judy hadn’t actually eaten one for herself, “aren’t you gonna have any?”

Judy shook her shoulders and head with a wide toothy smile. “It was my only one, it’s okay”

Jen frowned. She unwrapped the sweet completely and then bit into half of it, the other half she held out to Judy, sticky between her fingers. Judy’s eyes bulged and she smiled even wider, as if that was possible. She praised the sweet from Jen’s fingers, and the two of them sat their chewing on a black current sweet a minute before class started.

*******

  
Jen excited the classroom with a small smile on her face. She hadn’t learned much in the past 45 minutes, but she’d probably laughed more than she had in a long while. Judy had talked to her more than anyone else ever had in school, she’d told jokes and they’d whispered with each other about the sweat patches under Mr Davidson’s arms.

Judy was like a bubble of energy, waiting for the right person to let it all out with, like Jen she didn’t have friends despite being kind to everyone. She had a best friend when she was younger named Lily, but it turned out Lily was using her to find out gossip and stories about her mother, another reason why she had no friends. Judy’s mother, Eleanor, was chaotic. She turned up to parents evenings (at least the ones she was bothered to go to, which wasn’t many) drunk and sometimes high. Judy knew her mother wasn’t like other kids’, she was tired in the day and then at night she’d have people over and they’d be up all night shouting with each other. Judy wasn’t close with her mother, she preferred to stay out of her way especially after a ‘party’ (Eleanor called it) with her friends. She always tried to impress her though, she made her pictures in art class and cookies in food technology, her mother dismissed them sometimes but then cherished them whenever she needed something from Judy. Like for her to give up some of her locker money she earned from cleaning the neighbours car, or to talk to the men who tried to barge down the door while Eleanor pretended to not be home.

Jen turned around for a second and coincidentally, Judy was just leaving the classroom, she threw her a wave and received an enthusiastic one in return. Strangely, she found herself actually excited to have double maths in her timetable for the next 2 days.

*******

Lunch time was chaotic at ‘Laguna Junior School’. Kids ran and barged past others to get in line for lunch first, the younger kids often getting pushed to the back of the queue. Judy sat alone at lunchtime, not on purpose, she often sat close to the middle chairs in the cafeteria so someone would be forced to sit close to her, no one ever did though so she sat in the middle seat by herself, as if she was the sun and around her were a thousand planets.

Judy had just finished art class, her favourite. She still carried her sketch pad with her, and she placed it down on the table as she sat down with her school meal. It was pasta and meatballs today, Judy didn’t mind it but she wasn’t a fan of meat. She cracked open her can of soda that came with her lunch, and sips it, once again trying to ignore the chattering around her that she was the topic of.

“ _She wears the weirdest clothes”_

_“What a nerd”_

_“Her crazy mom is a junkie”_

She jumped slightly as she felt a warm hand on her left shoulder.

“Hi”

Judy smiled. “Hi Jen!”

“Are you sitting by yourself?” Jen asked.

“Yeah, it’s okay” Judy shrugged.

Jen sat down next to her, carefully putting her own tray of food down along with her backpack.

Judy tilted her head. “Don’t you have better friends to sit with?”

Jen shook her head. “I usually sit with a bunch of people from my History class but they won’t notice I’m gone…and I like sitting with you” She added quietly, it made Judy grin even wider.

“You do?”

“Mhm”

They ate their meals in a comfortable silence, Judy offered Jen her meatballs and in return Jen gave her more spaghetti. They sat there a little awkwardly after eating, until Jen noticed Judy’s art book.

“Is that from art class?”

“Yeah, it’s my favourite class”

“I hate it, I can’t draw” Jen laughed. “Can I see?” She pointed to the sketch pad.

“Okay”

Judy put the sketches between them and flicked through some of the pages. Jen’s eyes widened at how good she was, she couldn’t even draw one of those weird ‘S’ things with the lines and stuff, and here Judy was painting portraits and animals like it was her job.

“These are awesome Judy!”

“You think?”

Jen nodded, her eyes transfixed on the young girl (she thinks it’s Judy because of the bangs) painted on the page.

“You should be an artist when your older”

Judy giggled. “You think I could?”

Jen nodded, “yeah!”

“Maybe I could draw you?”

“Would you?”

“Totes!”

Jen was still looking through Judy’s drawings, when all of a sudden a huge red splat appears on the page with a disgusting squelching sound, Jen heard Judy gasp and looked up to meet the face of one of the footballer boys, Brandon. His friends were laughing and pointing at Judy, who Jen saw now had a couple tears running down her face.

“Hey jerk face you ruined her work!” Jen shouted for him, she stood up abruptly and clenched her fists.

“It was rubbish anyways, I think I improved it” This evoked another laugh from his friends, as well as a few others who’d started watching the argument unfold.

“Maybe I should improve your face”

It happened quickly but Jen lunged towards him and just missed his face, if it wasn’t for the table and chairs in front of her she would have probably split his lip. The boys just laugh and her and run off, joking between them as they go. Jen then turned to Judy who was sat pouting, tears still falling silently.

She huffed and blew strands of hair that had fallen out of her pig tails out of her face. “They’re idiots Judy, stupid slimy idiots”

Judy didn’t look up, too embarrassed probably at being humiliated in front of at least ¾ of the school.

Jen rummaged through her pocket for a packet of tissues and handed a few to Judy. She dabbed at the tomato sauce on the painting and tried to get most of it off, but it was clearly stained.

“Are you okay?” Jen asked.

Judy nodded.

“Liar liar pants on fire”

That made Judy laugh a little. She sniffles and wiped her face with the tissues. She held up her painting and sighed, “it’s ruined”

Jen grimaced.

“Thanks for shouting at them for me” Judy said with a small sad smile.

“Do they do stuff like that all the time?” Jen asked.

Judy nodded, reaching for her sketch pad and closing it before putting it in her over- the- shoulder bag. “I just ignore it”

Jen frowned sadly. Sure, she didn’t have friends and she basically hated school, but she wasn’t picked on or bullied. People just ignored her, but with Judy they targeted her. Humiliated her. She hadn’t met Judy before, but after sitting with her at lunch and earlier in maths class, she was witness to nasty comments from other girls about Judy’s hair or clothes, and she could have sworn that during the short times table test earlier in maths someone had thrown a pencil at Judy’s head. The brunette had ignored it though, just like the did over someone vandalising her art work.

“Here” Jen handed Judy the painting. “Pretend it’s Brandon’s face and rip it”

Judy made an unsure face, but she smiled as well. “Okay?” She giggled and Jen nudged the paper closer to her.

She tore it down the middle and then again in quarters and then again. She finished by scrunching up the papers and dumping them on the tray.

“Take that Brandon” Jen pointed at the paper as she put on an angry face.

*********

The bell rang signalling the end of another school day, both girls exiting their classes. Jen headed to her locker to fetch her backpack and coat and then walked quickly through the busy corridors and out into the fresh air. Looking ahead, she saw a small brunette with the distinctive flower satchel that she knew was Judy’s. She smiled and jogged to catch up with her, she noticed the girls behind her were taunting her, trying to pull her hair and trip her up. She nudged the taller redhead girl out of the way and wrapped an arm round Judy’s shoulder protectively.

“Hey Jude!”

“Hi Jen!”

“Do you catch the bus too?” Jen asked, steering Judy away from the idiots behind them.

Judy tipped her head down while walking, her shoes seeming more interesting. “Um no my mom doesn’t give me money for the bus”

Jen frowned a little, her mom had always given her money for the bus, or she’d picked her up in the car because kids walking on the streets of Laguna after 4pm was not a good mix.

“Oh, which way do you walk home?”

Judy pointed, “that way”

“My house is that way. We can walk together if you want”

Judy practically beamed. “Sure!”

The two walked hand in hand down the narrow streets, the sky already darkening and the wind becoming cold. Judy had goosebumps on her legs that were bare from her dress and her teeth chattered. It was winter time, probably the only season that was ever cold, usually it was blistering with sun and blue skies, even in autumn. The street lights were the only sauce of light except for the various car headlights that drive past them. Only a few other older students were walking the same way, but they were either far ahead or far behind.

Jen noticed the corner store on the next bend, her and her mom came here all the time for small food shops. She stopped abruptly and tugged on Judy’s hand.

“Wanna get something with my bus money?”

Judy let go of her hand after they’d crossed the street and were standing outside the store. “Go ahead I’ll wait here for you” she said sweetly.

Jen laughed, “noo, for us both, duh”

“Oh! Okay! Thanks!”

Jen scoffed a laugh as she pulled Judy inside the store.

They came out with a few fizzy cola bottles each, some lollipops and a bag of crisps to share. They ate them on the way home and around 5 minutes after they arrived at Judy’s home. It was tiny, compared to hers, and she was surprised to learn that it wasn’t just Judy who lived here, she figured it was a flat. There were music booming from one of the windows already and a few scruffy looking men hanging around outside. Jen didn’t want to seem rude so she kept her mouth shut, _surely Judy can’t live here?_

Judy let go of her hand and turned to her, “will I see you tomorrow? In maths?”

Jen nodded, distracted by the sounds of smashing glass coming from behind Judy. “Wanna hang out tomorrow after school? My mom works from home so it’ll just be us really”

Judy almost gasped. _Jen wanted to hang out with her!!_

She smiled. “Really! Okay!”

Jen grinned back. Judy stepped forward and quickly hugged Jen, she was taken aback and made a small ‘oomf’ noise, but hugged her back with a laugh.

“See you tomorrow”

Judy waved as she watched Jen walk further down the street. She felt uneasy at letting her go by herself, but it turned out Jen literally lived down the road from her on the same long street, so she watched her and squinted to see Jen finally turn into her home. She sighed, already missing the company of her new friend, and headed into the hell hole that was her ‘home’.

********

It had been a long day, but having each other’s company and the promise of hanging out together after school had made the school day easier, for Jen anyway. Judy enjoyed school, she loved science and art the most. When they’d reunited in double maths that morning, they’d gotten to know each other between completing numeracy problems. Jen found out Judy was practically a nerd, she loved learning about the way the world works and it’s past. She loved animals, koalas were her favourite because _“they’re sooo cuddly!”._ She was an only child and only had a mom at home. Jen had told her how she had a mom and a dad at home, but the latter worked away abroad a lot of the time so she only saw him at Christmas, thanksgiving and her birthday. She’d told Judy about her favourite computer game, “ _it’s cool I play it all the time, I’ll show you later at mine, you decorate the rooms however you want and then you can refresh it all and do it over again”_. They’d sat with eachother again at lunch time and parted ways after the lunch bell had rang, both excited to be seeing eachother after school.

Jen was waiting for Judy, her lesson had finished early since the teacher was a little ill, so she perched on the wall and watched forward for the small brunette. She saw her around a few minutes later, she had a spring in her step and she waved excitedly when she saw Jen. They headed to Jen’s house, the walk not taking them as long as yesterday.

When they arrived Judy seemed to shrink into herself, Jen was about to open the door when she saw Judy hovering further behind.

“What’s wrong?”

“What if your mom doesn’t like me? Everyone thinks I’m weird anyways so-“

“Shut up Jude! She’ll like you, just like I do, like _everyone_ should” Jen grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze of reassurance.

“Jen is that you?”

“Yep hi mom” Jen yelled as she shut the door behind Judy. She kicked her shoes off and told Judy to do the same. Judy did it with a little more grace and laid them neatly next to Jen’s.

Judy watched as a tall woman appeared in the hallway of the pristine house. Judy had never seen walls as clean as white as those. There were pictures hung up neatly and ornaments on the drawers that were placed there. Jen’s mother walked closer to them, she wore a long pant suit in a dark blue colour and her hair was straightened. Judy was in awe of the woman, her mother looked nothing like that even on her ‘good’ days. She hardly got dressed and her hair was scraggy, as if she couldn’t be bothered to brush it.

“Hi honey, you must be Judy, I’m Samantha but, you can call me Sam” An outstretched hand was placed in front of Judy and a smile followed.

Judy quickly shook her hand up and down. “Hello! Thank you for having me over”

Samantha shook her head and waved her hand dismissively, “it’s no bother hon, anything you need I’ll be in that office right there” she said. Her voice was gentle yet strong, a little like Jen’s was despite her being only young.

“Okay thank you!”

She said that a lot, Jen had noticed, ‘thank you’, as if any kindness shown towards her was a bonus, a privilege.

“Come on, I’ll show you my room”

“Have fun girls” Samantha disappeared into her office with a wave, and Jen quickly lead her by the hand upstairs.

Jen’s bedroom was decorated in blue, red and purple. And everything matched. She had teddy bears on her bed, it reminded Judy of the bedrooms she saw on movies or tv shows. Her name was printed on the wall in huge purple letters and sparkly hearts were dotted around it. She had board games piled under the bed and a laptop that sat on her tidy desk.

“Your room is awesome!”

“It’s alright”

Jen sat down on her bed and patted it next to her, encouraging Judy to sit next to her. She sat gracefully, crossing her legs leaning backwards on her arms.

“Your bed is so comfy!”

“Is yours not?” Jen asked, scorching bad towards the headboard to lean on.

Judy shrugged, a pain smile appearing on her face.

“I kinda just have a few duvet covers on the floor and then a blanket on top”

“You do?”

Judy just nodded, her hands playing with the lose cotton from her long sleeved top.

“It’s better than the car though, we used to sleep inside on a car park”

Jen’s eyes widened though she tried to hide it. “You slept in a car?”

“Mhm, for almost a year, the place we live in now we’ve only been there for like 4 months” Judy said nonchalantly.

“Why?” Jen asked, a concerned look on her face.

“My mom doesn’t have a job and some nasty men came because mum took medicine from them”

Jen tilted her head, “medicine?”

Judy nodded, her little head bouncing up and down making her shoulder length hair fall back and forth over her shoulders. “Mom says it’s medicine but I don’t think it works because she’s always sleepy and she doesn’t ever get better”

“Did she go to the doctor?” Jen asked obliviously.

A blatant reminder that they were ten years old and Judy’s mother had told her the vicious, life consuming drugs she takes were ‘mommy’s magic medicine’.

“Not sure” Judy shrugged. Her voice trailed off and Jen decided not to ask her any more questions. She figured Judy didn’t really like talking about her mom much.

“So do you wanna play a game? Mom buys me board games and stuff but I never really get to play them” Jen scoffed a light laugh.

“Okay! Which ones do you have?”

Judy joined Jen on the floor seconds later as they peered under her bed at the stacks of games. Judy’s eyes lit up at one in particular and Jen told her to pull it out.

“I’ve always wanted to play this one!”

“Well your wish is my command” Jen joked and unboxed the ‘Twister’ game Judy had chosen.

“Left-no right foot on green”

“Green! That’s too far” Jen’s voice was strained due to her body being stretched in all directions. They’d been playing for a while and she was tangled together with Judy’s small limbs, admittedly her being tall gave her an advantage over the smaller girl.

“Gotta do what the board says Jen” Judy giggled, her own body in a stretched star like shape while she reached to spin the spinner.

“Almost there!” Judy said as she saw Jen’s hand almost reach the green circle, it didn’t last long though as they soon collapsed into a heap of laughter. Hair was in each others faces and arms were stuck into each other’s sides, but neither girl had laughed this much probably ever before.

***********

A few months had passed since Jen first joined Judy’s maths class, and the school year was almost finished for the summer. They’d made each other Christmas cards at Christmas, spent new year together at Jen’s house and they’d not had a week apart since first meeting. Jen had met Judy’s mother once probably at a parents evening, she was polite to her because Judy was there but deep down she wanted to throw water over her and trip her up down the corridor and scream at her to expose her for the mean woman she was. Judy knew Jen wasn’t a fan of her mother, she wasn’t either so she wasn’t surprised Jen wasn’t. She much preferred Jen’s mother Sam, who’s become like a second mother over the few months of getting to know Jen. She’d taken them to the cinema and to swimming lessons and ordered them pizza on many sleepovers. It was one of Judy’s favourite things to do, sleep over at Jen’s.

She enjoyed huddling under the covers with Jen while they told scary stories and ate chocolate. She loved waking up in the morning and blowing left over milkshake through the straw on Jen’s drooling face, Jen didn’t enjoy it so much but got her own back by putting shaving cream over her one morning. Spending time with Jen was one of the reasons Judy never hardly had a smile off of her face. She’d come out of her shell while hanging out with the blonde, and had started standing up for herself more.

_“Don’t let them jerks get away with picking on you_ ” Jen had told her.

Jen had changed too, the teachers noticed even how she was happier and less closed off. Jen had found a lesson that she actually enjoyed, ‘travel and tourism’ and looked forward to that class every week. Judy had painted more and had even made a few pictures for Jen’s room, her eyes shone every time she saw them hung on display proudly in Jen’s bedroom.

It’s fair to say their lives had changed for the better after meeting each other one dreary afternoon in Mr Davidson’s fractions lesson.


	2. Troublesome Teens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jen and Judy in their teenage years, a few snap shots of moments in their young lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!! Thanks for all the comments on the last chapter, sorry this ones a bit shorter. 
> 
> The next chapter will be Jen and Judy in their 20s so any ideas/prompts please comment them! 
> 
> (Little trigger warning for halfway through)

Jen had been friends with Judy for years, 6 nearly 7 to be exact. They were probably the best and worse years of her life. In recent months her mom had been diagnosed with breast cancer, was having chemo multiple times a week and then was told by a doctor that unfortunately the chemo may actually not work if the cancer spreads. They feared Samantha Harding may not have a lot of life left in her. Jen had taken care of her mom along with her grandma Felicity and her dad had taken time off of work to be at home with his family. Not that it made much difference, none of them could take away the cancer. Judy was the only one who could take it away for Jen though, metaphorically that is. Whenever she’d speak to Judy on the phone or in person she’d feel normal again and lighter, she’d forget about the worries going on at home and just enjoy being with Judy.

The younger girl hadn’t escaped childhood trouble free either, the brunette lived in a foster home after Eleanor had been arrested and sent to jail for the involvement with drugs, as well as a hit and run she committed while under the influence. Judy had testified against her mother when she was 14 years old, telling the court stories of all the parties in the flat and ‘magic medicine’ that she knew wasn’t actually medicine. She’d watched as her mother screamed insults and horrible names at her as she was dragged away from the dock after receiving a guilty sentence.

Throughout the chaos that was their lives, the girls had remained a constant for eachother, a safe space. They’d gone onto the same high school, _thank god,_ and were in most of the same classes except for their option lessons. Judy had obviously chosen art and Jen had gone with business. They didn’t have other friends in school but Jen’s neighbour Christopher had become a friend for the both of them these past few years. He was an outgoing ball of energy and a little older than Jen and Judy so he’d take them places in his car and find ways of sneaking them alcohol. Judy especially loved visiting his house because he had a small Pomeranian puppy named Adele.

*****

Jen had just finished stirring two hot cocoas and squirting a dollop of cream on top, she sprinkled Judy’s with cinnamon because she liked it. Judy was sleeping over at Jen’s house while her mom was staying overnight in hospital, Sam preferred leaving two girls alone in the house than leaving Jen there by herself. Her daughter couldn’t cook so she was glad at least Judy could. How, she didn’t know, Eleanor certainly won’t have taught her. 

She headed upstairs carrying the drinks carefully and rushed to the bedside table to place them down.

“Ouch it’s hot” Jen hissed and waved her fingers in the cool air.

“Smells good” Judy sniffed up dramatically, the chocolate filling her senses.

Judy lifted her mug from the table and licked the cream off the top.

“Jesus you’re so messy” Jen used her index finger to swipe the cream from her nose and then licked it from her finger.

Judy just giggled and laid the mug back down to cool.

“ _You’re_ messy” Judy swiped some cream and flicked it into Jen’s face.

She gasped and the two ended up in a play fight, the cream was featured multiple times as they splattered it across eachother. Jen ended up with a huge dollop dripping down her forehead and to stop another cream attack she grabbed the younger woman’s forearm and tried pinning her back.

“Ahh!” Judy let out loudly and pulled her arm back.

“What was that?” Jen furrowed her eyebrows and loosened the grip on her arm, not altogether though.

“Nothing”

“It wasn’t nothing, I hardly touched you what’s wrong with your arm?”

Judy pulled her arm back then roughly and tugged the long sleeves down over her hands. Her eyes were everywhere but on Jen.

“I should go check on the pizza-“ _Distraction_.

“Judy”

She sighed and sat back down. “It’s nothing Jen…” Her tone of voice didn’t sound like nothing.

Jen wordlessly reaches for Judy’s arm, gently this time, and pulled back her sleeve, Judy didn’t resist so she kept going. She felt her heart practically shiver when she saw the scars there as well as some angry fresh marks. Jen was aware of the tears that had sprung to the forefront of her wide eyes, some of them falling onto the bed as she tipped her head over Judy’s arm.

“Don’t cry Jen I don’t want you to feel bad”. Judy cared about everyone else before herself.

“Well I do feel bad how can I not?”

Judy looked confused, it wasn’t Jen’s fault.

“I’m your best friend and you’re hurting yourself and I didn’t even know, I’m such a fucking awful person I’m so sorry Judy” Jen was shaking her head angrily, frustrated with herself for not noticing anything.

‘ _How the fuck did I not notice? We’re with each other every second of the day, fucking shit, I must be blind. Or just plain fucking ignorant’_

“It’s okay…”

“No Judy it’s not…” Jen trailed her finger lightly over her arm, frowning at the rough raised skin.

“Why did you- _do_ you do it? Please tell me because I don’t want you to ever have to do it again”

Judy shrugged in response. She was biting her lip and Jen reaches her thumb out to tug it from her teeth that were digging that hard into it that Jen was sure it’s bleed.

“I, it was by accident the first time, I dropped a glass and was picking it up, but then…it just felt better than facing the real world so I just kept doing it whenever I wanted to escape or run away and I couldn’t, and…” Judy sniffled. “Everything bad that’s happened, my mum starting to do drugs and stealing and everything else, even your mom being ill… it’s my fault, I’m like cursed…I have bad energy”

Jen shook her head. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing, how can the kindest fucking angel in the whole world, universe even, believe that she is a ‘bad energy’ or whatever.

“Judy-“

“It’s true that’s why everyone stayed away from me and why my mum did drugs just so she could escape taking care of me…”

Jen shuffled closer and placed her hands on Judy’s shoulders, she fought the urge to shake the girl.

“Are you kidding me right now? Judy, you are the nicest person in this whole world, you don’t have a ‘bad energy’ you have the best fucking energy there is, you’re smart and funny and beautiful”

Jen sighed and pulled her into a hug. “And nothing that’s happened is your fault ok, please just don’t ever think that” She carried on into her shoulder. The younger girl gripped her tightly, as if Jen was a lifeguard and she was drowning in an ocean of her own dark thoughts.

“Please…” Jen pulled back and took Judy’s hand in hers again, turning it over so her wrist was visible. “Don’t do this again, and if you think about ever doing it then tell me, please Judy I need you to promise”

Judy looked into Jen’s worried eyes that were gazing into hers, and it felt like they reached deep down into her sole. She understood her friends worry, if it was the other way round she’d never want to leave Jen’s side, fearful that she may go too far one day and never be by her side again.

“I promise” her pinky wrapped around Jen’s and the blonde nodded.

“I love you Jude”

Judy smiled, and she truly believed that Jen was telling the truth, unlike the falseness that poisoned her mother’s words of ‘I love you’.

“I love you” Judy hugged her again just because she could. She felt more free somehow, like Jen finally knew every inch of her and would help her no matter what.

Jen pulled back suddenly, startling Judy. She sniffed.

“I can smell burning…”

Judy’s eyes widened comically, “the pizza!”

“Oh god!”

*************

“Hey, I need your opinion”

Judy looked up from her sketch pad. She was working on a new piece of Jen and herself, they’d taken a photo one day at the beach and Judy had wanted to try paint it using water colours. She’d just finished lightly drawing their outlines when Jen had barged into her bedroom, she assumed James who ran the group foster home had let her in.

“Shoot” She sat up from the slouched position she was in.

“So Ted from my business class invited me to the movies, do you think I should go?”

Judy frowned. “Shouldn’t you be making that decision?”

Jen huffed and slumped on the bed.

“Do you like him?”

Jen shrugged. “Kinda, I mean he’s nice and he helps me in class sometimes, there’s nothing to not like about him”

“So then go”

Jen huffed again. “He’ll think it’s a date”

“That’s a bad thing?”

Another sigh. “Dunno…I’ve never been on one so like, what if he wants to hold hands and like…ya know kiss and stuff”

Judy scoffed a laugh and rolled her eyes. “Then if you want, do it”

“I dunno how”

Judy sighed and shuffled closer to sit on the end of the bed next to Jen. “You can practice on me if you like, then you won’t be so scared to try it with him”

Jen looked at her shocked. “Really?”

Judy nodded.

The two of them didn’t move though and after a beat they both let out a soft awkward laugh.

“So…I just-“

Jen moved forward. Her heart was hammering in her chest weirdly, it was only Judy so why was she so nervous?

Judy leaned towards her as well and they both met in the middle. Their lips didn’t move against each other’s, but Jen’s hand had reached up to cup Judy’s jaw. They parted after almost a minute and starred at each other.

“Was that alright?”

“Yeah! It was-I liked it”

Jen blushed and Judy shuffled backwards a little.

“I’m sure if Ted makes a move on you that you’ll be fine” Judy nodded her head with a small smile encouragingly.

“Yeah..” She trailed off.

*******

“She what?”

“I know I know-“

“Well I hope you said no”

Judy grimaced and Jen groaned loudly. They were sat outside under a huge willow tree at lunch, it had become their spot since Judy said they should start sitting outside in lunch breaks instead of in a stuffy canteen full of students. And, it was summer, so the bright blue skies and warm breeze had coaxed them outside.

“I didn’t say no exactly, I said I’d think about it” Judy admitted.

She’d received a call from her mother asking to see her. Jen was a hundred percent sure that there was an ulterior motive behind it, the woman wasn’t bothered about her child and had never been so why would she be when prison has handed her the chance of forgetting all about motherhood. It had been ages since she’d been locked up anyways, so why contact now?

“Well say you’ve thought about it and tell her to fuck off”

“Jen!”

Jen shook her head and put down the sandwich she’d almost finished in her packed lunch tub.

“I know, your gonna say ‘she’s my mother Jen I can’t just say no to her’ but Judy, that woman has put you through hell and back so yeah, you can say no and you should” Jen had mimicked Judy’s lighter tone of voice halfway through that sentence.

“I don’t talk like that”

“You kinda do”

“Nope”

Jen sighed. “You’re changing the subject…”

Judy matched Jen’s sigh. “God…I know..”

Jen finished her sandwich and the two sat in silence for a few moments. Judy was twirling the string cheese in her hand with each thin strand she ripped off.

“You are worth so much more than to give in to what she wants”

As if a switch clicked inside the brunettes head, she nodded definitely.

“I won’t see her, I don’t even want to…” Judy carried on eating the cheese. “I just feel like I owe her, but…not anymore…if she calls I won’t answer”

Jen nodded. She picked up her free hand and gave it a squeeze.

********

School was out for the summer which meant Judy and Jen had an end of year prom to attend. It was today, and Judy had been excited for weeks, she’d begged Jen to match outfits with her and obviously the blonde had agreed. _The eyes, how could she not with those fucking puppy eyes._

They were getting ready over at Jen’s house, it was a full day thing and they’d been pampered by Christopher and his new boyfriend, who’d brought them a glass of champagne to share between them all, Jen’s mother had allowed a small glass. Sam and Jen’s grandmother Felicity had painted their nails and had given then facials. The two had spent the day laughing with each other and their small family and friends. Fortunately Sam had stopped having chemo so she didn’t feel any of the sickening side effects of the treatment, she was waiting for results to see whether the therapy had worked or not. They prayed it had. She’d ordered Jen and Judy to go and change into their dresses a few minutes ago, so herself and Jen’s grandmother were waiting at the bottom of the stairs for them to come and show their outfits off. Christopher and Tyler (Jen thinks his name was, it was boyfriend number 3 of the month) had left a while ago, bidding a good evening to Jen and Judy and wishing them a lovely time.

“Jen are you done?” Judy almost bounced up and down in her heels, she was so excited.

“Almost!”

Judy had a long silver dress that flowed over her ankles, it was jewelled at the top with gold and black sequins and glitter. She’d paired it with a half moon necklace, Jen wore the other half, black glittery heels and a half cut furry black overcoat. To match, Jen wore a black dress with gold and silver jewels, a half cut grey furry overcoat and silver and black heels. Her blonde hair was curled to one side and holding it in place was a pretty silver grip with a few gems on. Judy’s hair was simply curled.

“Okay done”

“Girls you don’t have all night!” Felicity shouted from downstairs.

Jen stepped out of her bedroom, Judy came out of Sam’s bedroom where she’d changed. Their eyes meet after looking each other up and down. Judy’s mouth is parted and Jen’s eyes are wide.

“Oh my gosh you look amazing” Jen said, stepping closer to her to get a good look.

“Oh stop…” Judy felt her cheeks blushing. “You look like heaven on a stick”

“Please” Jen shrugged and bowed her head.

They starred at each other, smiles on each of their faces, and it was almost as if everything else had disappeared and they were the only two human beings on the Earth.

“Oh my!”

“Ahh you look lovely”

Felicity and Sam’s voices broke their bubble, and they moved to go down the stairs so the two older women could see.

“My girls! All grown up” Sam clenched her hands together in front of her face to stop herself from reaching out, squeezing them to death and ruining their dresses. Judy felt her heart grow fuller with the word _‘my’_. She was glad, actually, that her own mother wasn’t here to ruin the moment.

“Let’s get a few pictures” Jen’s mother reached for her phone and urged the girls to stand closer in the frame.

Jen wrapped her arm round Judy’s waist, and Judy grabbed her and at the other side, hugging herself closer into Jen’s body.

“Smiles on three…one two-“

The camera flashes and Sam snaps a few normal shots and then a few silly ones where Judy sticks her tongue out and Jen pulls a frowny face.

After being shooed out of the door and into the white hummer that Christopher had somehow gotten for them, they waved goodbye to Sam and Felicity who were stood grinning and waving in the doorway and each grabbed a glass of the mock tails the hummer provided. It was spacey in the back, after all a hummer is usually for a good 8-9 people, but sat scooched into Judy’s warm side, taking selfies every now and then and singing along to the music, Jen wouldn’t have it any other way.


	3. My person

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jen figures out that Judy’s actually really fucking attractive and gets jealous when other people realise it. 
> 
> I really cba to spell check and everything, so pls tell me if anything is spelt wrong or is grammatically wrong :)

*zoooo*

A chorus of party horn and party poppers echoed In Jen’s kitchen, one particular party horn held by a certain Judy Hale flapped right into her left ear as the slightly drunk brunette blew air into it. She gripped Jen’s arm to steady herself and cuddled her after the multiple voices singing ‘happy birthday’ had stopped along with the ‘hip-hip-hurrays’.

Despite the loudness from their small gathering of those closest to them, and the smell of the cheap food on the kitchen table as a buffet, Jen found herself grinning from ear to ear, it was almost painful to stretch her cheeks that far.

Jen had just turned 25, the half a dozen birthday banners and the huge badge Judy had begged Jen to wear reminded her of that exact fact. Judy had laughed this morning while she’d been opening cards and presents in their shared apartment, _“better get you a pair of walking sticks old lady”_ ….” _shut the fuck up”._ The past few years had been no better than all the ones before it. To Jen’s despair, and Judy’s, Samantha had lost her battle with cancer, the chemo hadn’t been working effectively and she chose to stop having treatment in order to live out her last years to the fullest. And they did, Samantha had taken Jen and Judy to Paris to celebrate their graduation from high school. They’d spent a fortnight there and had seen amazing views and ate gorgeously expensive food. Samantha had given up her office job and had started volunteering at an animal shelter every weekend, Jen had thought that the workload would be too much and she wasn’t well enough but her mother wasn’t one to take no for an answer. It was her dream job apparently but being a mother at a young age had meant she’d settled for a work from home job instead. Jen had struggled for a while after she’d passed, Judy found that she closed off from everybody, even herself at one point. The night her mom died, Jen had stayed in her room at not come out until 4 days later. She wouldn’t have eaten or drank anything either if Judy hadn’t have left plates of food and glasses of water (mostly wine actually) outside of her bedroom door. She refused to go to college, she was studying a marketing and business degree at the time but ended up dropping out halfway through.

Judy had been heart broken too, she’d lost a second mother and at the time she’d lost Jen to her grief. Jen grieved angrily and alone, she pushed everyone away. Judy grieved by trying to forget about all the horrible shit that had happened and pleasing everyone around her. She craved balance, she believed her karma for putting her mother in prison was to have another mother cruelly taken from her, and to cause Jen all this pain so she’d eventually leave her too, just like Eleanor. In Judy’s mind, being kind and helpful and putting everyone above herself meant that she’d shove down the negative energy that cursed her body. She’d taken care of Jen after her mother dying and buried her own upset deep within herself. Her hobby of painting never disappeared, and her art work was picked up by ‘TKG Arts’, they’d complimented the uniqueness of her work and had wanted to sell her paintings, that meant she could finally afford things of her own and she’d be able to buy a home with Jen. It was almost a silent agreement the whole living together idea. After Jen’s mother had passed her father stayed away from home, not caring enough to visit his only daughter. The two had saved up money from Jen’s part time job in a sales agency and Judy’s painting earnings along with her job at the local care home teaching art classes, and with the money they’d moved into an apartment together.

That same apartment was now half trashed due to Judy’s surprise birthday party for Jen, but the latter didn’t mind as she was already a few drinks in and all of this was planned by her favourite fucking person in the world.

“Karen knocked over the plant pot at the top of the stairs”

Judy leaned into Jen’s side to shout in her ear above the booming music.

Jen rolled her eyes. “She’s already smashed a bottle of wine and a picture frame in the last half hour” she shouted back.

Judy giggled and tipped her head back, the fast motion caused her to stumble on her feet backwards and Jen reached out to catch her by the arm, only just managing to steady her. “Maybe you should sit down for a minute Jude”

Judy shook her head, causing her to go dizzy again and support Jen’s suggestion. “Okay, only for a little while…” but when Jen went to guide her to the stool in the kitchen Judy stopped her and shouted “wait come!”

She grabbed Jen’s hand and pulled her towards their bedroom, which they shared. _Together._

“What are you doing?” Jen scoffed a laugh as she tripped over Judy’s feet as they come to a stop in their bedroom.

“I have a present for you”

Jen shut the door as Judy crouched down in a _very_ short green dress and rummaged under the bed.

“You’ve already given me a spa voucher, a life times supply of wine _and_ my very own personalised crystal from your weird spiritual collection, what more could I possible want” She said as she strolled over and sat down on their king size bed, or ‘queen’ size as Judy called it.

Judy jumped on the bed with a gift bag in her hand, she thrusted it into Jen’s arms and crossed her legs waiting for Jen to open it. Jen side-eyed her with a smile and unwrapped the rectangular item inside that was wrapped with striped wrapping paper with ‘happy birthday’ dotted everywhere. She pulled out a photo album, it looked like it had been decorated by a 5 year old, turned out it nearly had.

“I made it when we first met, then I kept adding to it as we got older,”

It was a photo album but more like a scrapbook, handmade by Judy. The front was red and covered in glitter, and in the middle was a recently drawn sketch of the two of them with their arms wrapped around each other. Bubble writing covered the bottom of the front cover, reading ‘J & J’ with three hearts next to it. Jen felt tears in her eyes as she ran a finger over the front cover.

“I, I don’t even know what to say Jude”

“Don’t say anything, open it” Judy rested her head on Jen’s shoulder, peering over it at the book with the blonde.

Jen did just that, she carefully opened the journal to the first page, it was covered in Judy’s writing and Jen had to blink rapidly so she was able to read through her tears.

**_‘Dear Jen,_ **

****

**_I hope you don’t think this is weird, I bought you the spa voucher and wine just incase you hated this. I wanted to make something special for you, and something you could keep forever…if you want to. (You totally can throw it out if you hate it)_ **

****

**_I started making this after the first day we met each other, for some reason I knew we’d be best friends. You stood up for me like no one ever had before, you made me laugh and cry happy tears and I knew that I’d want you in my life forever._ **

****

**_I can’t even remember my life without you because you are my life, you’re the sunshine that lights up my day, you’re the moon that shines through the night…so poetic right? Maybe I should’ve been a writer instead of an artist!_ ** **_J I don’t have a favourite memory with you because every second has been amazing, but I loved when we went skinny dipping that time for my 21 st birthday and we had to duck down behind the rock in the water because someone called the cops on us lol! And the time when we went camping after school in the woods and you set the tent your mom gave us on fire! Sleeping under the stars with you on that night was one of the best sleepovers we’ve had. And we’ve had A LOT!! _ **

****

**_I hope that when you’re reading this you’re happy, and if your sad then maybe this will cheer you up._ **

****

**_You will always be my person._ **

****

**_I hope you enjoy your birthday and all the ones to come because you deserve it._ **

****

**_I love you more than life._ **

****

**_Love,_ **

**_Judy xxx_ **

****

Jen wiped the back of her hand along her sniffling nose and her tearful chin, the heartfelt words and gift sobered her up instantly. She grabbed Judy’s hand and kissed her knuckles. Judy cuddled into her side further.

“You’re like the kindest fucking person Judy”

Judy just smiled and rested her head back against her shoulder, her warm nose pressing into Jen’s slightly sweaty neck, they’d been dancing all night after all.

She turned the page over and began looking through the photos that have been stuck in there, some with captions and borders around them, some surrounded with stickers and doodles drawn by Judy. The first photo is of them dressed up for Halloween together, they’d gone trick or treating dressed as Velma and Daphne. It was probably one of the first pictures they’d taken together.

A few pages later and Jen’s laughing at a photo of her sleeping that’s in there, Judy had drawn a moustache on her face and wrote ‘I luv Judy’ on her forehead in big black marker that they struggled removing for hours, Judy didn’t know it was permanent.

…

“Oh god I remember that one” Jen pointed to a photo of them wearing Christmassy outfits and hugging eachother.

Judy looked closer. “Yeah!” She laughed. “That was when we had to perform at the Christmas concert for school, you _hated_ it”

“Yeah cause I can’t sing, god I was so embarrassed”

“I remember you wanting to play Mary in the sketch about Mary and Joseph but then you found out that boy you hated was playing Joseph”

Jen tipped her head back and bumped Judy’s. “Oh god…I would not have been a good Mary anyway…you were a good angel Gabrielle though”

Judy smiled. “Yeah I remember your mom helping me make a halo a few hours before the concert because I sat on the other one” she said reminiscently.

Jen sighed contentedly. “We were so young once…” she flipped the page again, this one is dedicated to their holiday to Paris. “It’s weird”

******

Jen came home from a long exhausting day of trying to sell a house to two snobby parents and a bratty kid to find Judy sleeping with a blanket over her on the couch, the tv playing still in the background. She dumped her bag down along with her heels and smiled at the left over lasagne that was left in the oven for her. She went about heating it up and grabbing herself a plate and a fork.

When the microwave had pinged she plated up the food and took it to the couch. She sat down next to Judy and tried not to wake her, her plan failed because as soon as she reached over to grab the remote control Judy stirred and sat up.

“Hey you’re home” A yawn came next.

“I am, how was your day?”

“Fine, Abe was making fun of the new resident though because she kinda smells like egg all the time”

Jen laughed.

“How was yours?”

“Okay, but this couple was driving me crazy, and their kid has serious issues”

Judy laughed and sat up fully, her arm resting against the arm of the couch.

Jen ate her food while they both watched the crime documentary that was on tv. It was fairly silent which gave Jen a chance to ask Judy to be her ‘date’ to her work-do this Friday. Christopher was taking his boyfriend, Robert? She forgets how many partners he’s actually had. He’d told her this one was serious though because they’d moved in together and brought a dog from a _fucking puppy breeder._ She had no one else to take but Judy, she wouldn’t wanna take anyone else anyways.

“So this Friday work are having a ‘do’ or party sorta thing, it’s to meet new clients and network or whatever, and we have to bring a date so I figured I could bring you?”

Judy’s eyes lit up, ever the party girl. “Sure! I’d love to be your date”

_Date? As in friend date, or…? No. Friend date._

Jen nodded. “Great, it’s at like 7 and since your finishing work late on that day I’ll come pick you up and we can head straight there”

“Okay. Can’t wait! We’ve not been out in forever”

Jen agreed. “That is true”

“I better clean my dancing shoes!” Judy bared a cheesy toothy grin at Jen who shook her head fondly back.

*******

“Stop” Jen tugged Judy’s fidgeting hand always from her dress. They’re about to head inside the venue, a fairly large open room with music already playing and a golf court outside, after being dropped off by an Uber. Neither volunteered to drive since they’re pretty sure they’ll be getting drunk.

Judy clasped and unclasped her fingers at her sides now. “I just, maybe it’s too short? I should go back home and change-“

“Judy!” Jen placed her hands on her shoulders and squared up in to her eyes. “You look fucking beautiful, the dress looks lovely and if anyone says any different they’ll have me to deal with”

She’d chosen a dress that was above the knees and slightly out of her comfort zone, she thought it looked fine back in the mirror at home but upon arriving to the very posh and formal event she felt as if she belonged in a high school dance or a slutty club.

“You’re sure?” Judy asked still fidgeting with her hands.

Jen nodded. “You’re gonna be the fucking… hottest woman in here babe”

Judy grinned and continued walking, her arm hooking into Jen’s for support.

Jen was wearing a smart jumpsuit that was short cut at the shins, it was black and her shoulders were bare. She hurried them inside to get rid of the goosebumps that had already appeared on her arms and probably Judy’s too, the cold night heavy on their bare skin.

“Well good evening ladies” Christopher, dressed in a pristine white suite with a cheesy bow tie, came strolling over to them, a straw hanging from this mouth as he sipped on his cocktail.

“Hey” both replied simultaneously.

“You gals could turn me, and oh my-“ Christopher let out a dramatic gasp as he takes in Judy’s outfit, so used to seeing the brunette wearing flowers or literal child’s clothing with cheesy quotes written across them. “Let’s see you do a spin…” she did blushing, “oh my goodness, well Jen I’d be careful if I was you…”

Jen laughed confused. “Careful? Of what?” _Judy lighting on fire next to her because she genuinely did look so fucking hot_.

“Of your date being snatched right from under you-oh! Gotta go-“ Christopher said before running off while waving to someone who’d just walked inside.

For some reason Jen felt her stomach knot at the thought, _‘date being snatched right from under you’_. First of all, Judy wasn’t a ‘thing’ to be snatched, she was a person. And secondly, well…for some strange reason she hoped Judy wouldn’t be going home tonight with anyone but herself. Not that she hadn’t brought anyone home before, they both have. She dated a guy named Ben for a while but then broke it off with him after realising how fucking annoying he was. Judy dated more freely than she did, she preferred to keep herself to herself and didn’t really believe in finding love or whatever unlike her friend. Michelle was her most recent relationship, Jen admitted she’s was nice enough but when she’d lied about still living with her girlfriend despite claiming to have broken up, Jen was adamant that no one would ever be good enough for Judy. Even her. _Even herself? Why was she even adding herself into the picture when they were just friends, best friends. Weird._

As if on queue a tall, dark skinned handsome guy came wandering smoothly over to them. He approached Judy with a frustratingly dashing smile. “Hey, hope you don’t mind me coming over here, I’m Nick, I’m new to these events” He said, nicely enough but for some reason Jen found herself unconsciously gritting her teeth the closer he got to Judy. Judy brushed a strand of her behind her ear and shrugged with a wide smile. “Hey! I’m Judy, I’m here with my friend Jen” and she pointed with her thumb to the blonde.

“Hey nice to meet you” _she hoped that sounded convincing while she was about to punch something because he’d put his hand on Judy’s arm._

“Hello friend,” He smiled. “I’m about to go get a drink can I get you anything?” Jen was surprised at the offer and as Judy accepted one of the founders of the event came to grab Jen and she ended up being whisked away for an interview and a few photos with the guests and her colleagues. Much to Jen’s annoyance, because while plastering a smile on for the cameras was just a small part of her job and she’d done it a million times before for magazines and billboards, she’d never found it as difficult as she had then to wear a smile while internally glaring and almost sorta panicking as she watched Judy laugh with Nick. He’d sat down as soon as Jen was sought out and Judy looked as if she didn’t miss Jen one bit. Not that she had a reason to.

A few hours into the night and Jen watched painfully as Judy danced with nick and a few of the others. It was well into the early hours of the morning and her feet were tired and sore. Unlike Judy who was definitely past tipsy, she’d hardly touched her drinks all night. _Maybe she was coming down with a cold? Yeah that was probably it._

“Come dance Jen!” Judy shouted one her ear, leaning over Jen’s shoulders with her arms draped over her clumsily.

“I think Nick wants to dance with you” she nodded over to where he’d paused in the middle of the dance floor, still looking over at them.

“But I wanna dance with you”

“With me? Uh, okay” She’d forced her feet to move and follow Judy, the swing of alcohol she’d quickly had before going to the dance floor had given Jen the energy she needed to join Judy’s slightly crazy dancing. She’d never been the best dancer.

They danced together for a while and then Judy had started to get tired, her movements slowing down with each song. They’d also had a few more drinks and Jen was feeling it, her head was pounding but she could hardly feel it with the numbness of…every body part (she wasn’t even sure if her legs were actually functioning anymore).

Nick had came to say goodbye to them, he even asked Judy for her number and she gave it him gladly while Jen had popped to the toilet before heading home. She noticed the small slip of paper Judy was carrying when she’d gone to hook her arm in Judy’s, eyeing it in a side glance. Judy seemed to notice. “Oh, Nick gave me his number”

Jen wiggles her eyebrows teasingly. “Oh yeah, you like him then this Nick?”

Judy flagged down a taxi that an old couple had just gotten out of with her free hand and then opened the door for Jen to step in first. “He’s nice, don’t you think?”

Jen nodded, fastening her seatbelt. “Are you gonna go out on a date with him or something?”

Judy scoffed. “Huh?”

“You like _like_ him right?”

Judy shook her head, yanking her seatbelt which got stuck so she wrestled with it as Jen raised her eyebrows at her. “Not really”

“Oh, so…?”

“He knows of a really good art gallery that’s looking for new artists and he has a friend who might be able to help me get my paintings in there, he forgot the contact details though so he needed my number to text me them” Judy explained, not that she had to because Jen wasn’t bothered. _Nope._

“Oh”

Judy rolled her eyes with a smile, “yeah, _oh”_ she mocked Jen with a small laugh.

“Why, were you…jealous?” Judy asked nonchalantly shrugging her shoulders and twisting her lips into a pout and then back out again.

Jen snapped her head up. “Umm” She swallowed.

Judy shook her head and patted Jen’s thigh, her warm hand squeezing gently. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable, more like an atmosphere of entering new territory or whatever, it was teasing and fun.

“Tonight was fun, we should do it again but…”

Jen rolled her head. “But what?”

Judy bit her cheek. “Maybe…we should try it as a date? Like not a friend date but, well yeah we’re still friends obviously and we always will be, duh, but like a-“

“Yes”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah” Jen confirmed with a fond smile on her face.

“Okay then” Judy’s smile grew.

“Okay then” Jen echoed.

*****

And they did just that. They organised a date, Judy planned it all, they’d watched a horror movie at the cinema because she knew Jen loved them and then she’d driven them to a lake after fetching some takeaway Chinese food. They’d eaten on a spot where the stars gathered above them, and Judy had told Jen about the different constellations while they’d laid their heads next to each other and gazed up at the stars.

**_“They’re pretty don’t ya think?”_ **

****

**_Jen cleared her throat, her eyes glued to Judy as the brunette starred up at the night sky as she replied, “yeah”_ **

**_Judy turned her head to find Jen already facing her. “You’re not even looking at the stars” she’d teased._ **

****

**_Jen had laughed. “I know”_ **

****

**_Neither was sure who’d leaned in first, it was just as if there was a magnetic pull forcing them to collide with the others lips, hands linked at each other’s sides. It was slow and soft, not like Judy had experienced before with Michelle despite being a woman, and definitely nothing like Jen had felt before, used to rough stubble and hard hands on her cheeks. They’d stopped after a few seconds, before pulling each other in again. They’d kissed and chatted for hours until the sky began pouring with rain and they’d made a run for it back to Judy’s car._ **

****

**_“Wait!”_ **

****

**_Jen stopped in her tracks, blowing her soaked her from her face. “Judy what is it it’s freezing out here!”_ **

****

**_Judy pulled her in and kissed her deeply, her hands coming up to hold Jen’s cheek as they moved in rhythm against each other. They pulled back, each of them gasping for breath._ **

****

**_“I’ve always wanted to kiss someone in the rain”_ **

Nothing had changed since that night, they were still best friends, that’s why they worked so well together as a couple. They’d made it official when someone had asked Jen out one night in a bar, Jen had declined saying that she was already taken, and Judy’s heart grew as wide as the smile on her face did.

Judy believed they were soulmates, believed it was their destiny to meet that day in school that felt like a hundred years ago and like yesterday at the same time. Jen would go along with it for her sake, not really believing in all the destiny bullshit, but it was true that they were soulmates she believed. They’re were just meant to be. She didn’t see herself with anyone else ever, and even before being attracted to each other romantically, neither had strayed far from the other, despite the multiple people they’d each had a chance to do so with. They were friends, partners in crime (not literally obviously, Judy’s too pure for that, although she’d totally help Jen hide a body if ever need be), and above all, each other’s person. And they always would be.


End file.
